Shandora is the ancient city that resided on Jaya, but was later blasted up to Upper Yard by the Knock Up Stream. It was known as the City of Gold (黄金都市,Ōgon Toshi?, VIZ: "El Dorado"). Shandora literally means "the skull's right eye" which refers to its location on the skull shaped island.
The buildings in Shandora were covered entirely by gold until Enel took all of it in order to build his ark.
The Golden Bell and the Great Belfry housing the Shandorian Poneglyph were formerly located at the center of the city as its most prominent landmark.[1] However, the structure was displaced by the Giant Jack when the land was shot up the sky and became the Upper Yard.
Within the ruins, there is also a wall with writing in the same script as that found on Poneglyphs.[2]
History[]
Shandora was built 1100 years ago by the Shandorians, the ancestors of the Shandia.[3] During the Void Century, Shandora fell to unknown invaders. The Shandia fought to protect their poneglyph. After the Void Century, Shandora crumbled to ruins but the Shandia continued to guard the city.[2]
In 1122, Mont Blanc Noland visited the city.[4] In 1127, Shandora along with the half of Jaya was shot up to Skypiea. Shandora was under the Skypieans' control for the past four hundred years while the Shandia fought to take back Upper Yard.
During Enel's reign, he enslaved Gan Fall's Divine Squad in order to have them mine all the gold out of Shandora, leaving only ruins. The gold was used to build part of the Maxim.[5]
After the Upper Yard War, Shandora was back in the Shandia's hands, along with the Skypieans who lost their homes on Angel Island.[6]
Trivia[]
The city is likened to the old myth of cities of gold that was brought back from the Americans by European settlers, specifically El Dorado.
The English manga occasionally calls this city El Dorado.
The shape of the city's buildings resemble Mayan architecture. Furthermore, the ancient text Robin discovers in Chapter 264 is a set of Ancient Mayan glyphs.
The word "Shandora" stems from the Sanskrit word for the Moon, "Chandra", which is where the Shandorian race originated from.
